UN News
Helping the rural poor in Cambodia
The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced its support for a $11.5 million development project in Cambodia to help the rural poor.
“The project will not only boost incomes, it will also lay foundations for sustainable social and economic development in the future,” said Youqiong Wang, IFAD’s country programme manager for Cambodia, noting that it is the agency’s first to target the poor, ethnic population living in remote areas of the country.
Award-winning singer Sheryl Crow supports WFP
After watching the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) newest Ambassador actress Drew Barrymore discuss child hunger, musician Sheryl Crow decided to support the organization as well.
Crow, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, said “I was so struck by this story that our relationship with the WFP was born…It is absolutely amazing, the number of kids that they feed.”
UN Human Rights Council elects fourteen countries to serve
Fourteen countries have been elected to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council after a vote by Member States at UN Headquarters in New York.
Angola, Bolivia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Qatar, Slovenia and South Africa were successful after the first round of voting, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy were chosen following a second round.
Successful countries – which were elected according to a formula that allots seats among regional groups – needed to obtain an absolute majority of the General Assembly’s membership of 192 States. The second round of balloting was restricted to those States which had scored the most votes in the first round without achieving a majority.
Ban: Youth need better access to information technology
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged policymakers and industry leaders to work to ensure that young people have better access to information and communications technology (ICT).
“In many instances, young people are the driving force behind innovation in the development and use of new technologies,” Mr. Ban said in a message on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, which is being observed under the theme Connect the Young.
World’s first humanitarian video game launched by WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced the launch of “Food Force,” the world’s first humanitarian video game for children.
“Children have very few opportunities to understand the realities of a hungry world. By engaging children in a fun and creative way, ‘Food Force’ will help children become better global citizens – now and in the future,” said John Powell, WFP Deputy Executive Director for Fundraising and Communications.
A screen shot of the game is below.
Actress Drew Barrymore becomes advocate for World Food Programme
Actress Drew Barrymore has been named as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and will advocate for school feeding projects.
Ms. Barrymore, 32, becomes the latest Ambassador for the WFP, joining Kenyan world marathon record-holder Paul Tergat, himself a former recipient of school feeding programmes, among others. Last year WFP fed 19.4 million children across 71 countries through such projects.
Barrymore said, “I can’t think of any issue that is more important than working to see that no schoolchild in this world goes hungry.”
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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